Birthday Present - Softcover

Barbara Vine; Ruth Rendell

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0141036214 ISBN 13: 9780141036212

Publisher: Penguin Books, 2009

Synopsis

It's late spring of 1990 and a love affair is flourishing: between Ivor Tesham, a thirty-three year old rising star of Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government, and Hebe Furnal, a stunning North London housewife stuck in a dull marriage. What excitement Hebe lacks at home, however, is amply compensated for by the well-bred and intensely attractive Tesham - an ardent womanizer and ambitious politican. On the eve of her twenty-eighth birthday, Tesham decides to give Hebe a present to remember: something far more memorable than, say, the costly string of pearls he's already lavished upon her.Involving a fashionable new practice known as 'adventure sex', a man arranges for his unsuspecting but otherwise willing girlfriend to be snatched from the street, bound and gagged, and delivered to him at a mutually agreed venue ...Set amidst an age of IRA bombings, the first Gulf War, and sleazy politics, "The Birthday Present" is the gripping story of a fall from grace, and of a man who carries within him all the hypocrisy, greed and self-obsession of a troubled era.

About this title

About the Author

Barbara Vine was the pen-name of Ruth Rendell, and Viking published all of her books under that name. Rendell was an exceptional crime writer, with worldwide sales of approximately 20 million copies, and regular Sunday Times bestsellers. Rendell won numerous awards, including the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger for 1976's best crime novel with A Demon in My View, a Gold Dagger award for Live Flesh in 1986, and the Sunday Times Literary Award in 1990. In 2013 she was awarded the Crime Writers' Association Cartier Diamond Dagger for sustained excellence in crime writing. In 1996 she was awarded the CBE and in 1997 became a Life Peer. Ruth Rendell died in May 2015.

Review

The Rendell/Vine partnership has for years been producing consistently better work than most Booker winners put together * Ian Rankin * Barbara Vine is Ruth Rendell letting rip * Daily Telegraph * A superb and original writer * Amanda Craig, Express * Slick * Financial Times * Again a great read from a master of the story-telling process * Irish Times * Packed with menace and the threat of exposure. One of Rendell's most complex plots. * The Independent * Her Barbara Vine novels allow [Ruth Rendell] to retain her title as Britain's pre-eminent psychological thriller. A suspenseful and chilling tale * The Observer * Characters are intensely imagined and far from the usual uncomplicated stereotypes of victims and perpetrators. An experience that is both fearful and satisfying * The Sunday Times * A strong creation * Telegraph.co.uk * Riveting and only too plausible account of the downfall of a politician. Brilliant narrative voice. An unsurpassed portrait of a character suffering from low self-esteem, mild paranoia and gradual mental deterioration. * The Daily Mail * Oddly exhilarating and liberating. Truly, Baroness Rendell of Babergh is an original talent. * The Evening Standard * Slick * Financial Times * Again a great read from a master of the story-telling process * Irish Times * Packed with menace and the threat of exposure. One of Rendell's most complex plots. * The Independent * Her Barbara Vine novels allow [Ruth Rendell] to retain her title as Britain's pre-eminent psychological thriller. A suspenseful and chilling tale * The Observer * Characters are intensely imagined and far from the usual uncomplicated stereotypes of victims and perpetrators. An experience that is both fearful and satisfying * The Sunday Times * A strong creation * Telegraph.co.uk * Riveting and only too plausible account of the downfall of a politician. Brilliant narrative voice. An unsurpassed portrait of a character suffering from low self-esteem, mild paranoia and gradual mental deterioration. * The Daily Mail * Oddly exhilarating and liberating. Truly, Baroness Rendell of Babergh is an original talent. * The Evening Standard *

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0141036214
• ISBN 13: 9780141036212
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 278